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They might be talking about pretending to be a couple, but the attraction between them was one hundred percent real, so maybe he was going about this wrong. Instead of trying to buy her help, maybe he should try a sweeter path. He lowered his face to hers, slow inch by slow inch, and stopped just short of kissing her. “Maggie.”
She gasped, her hands creeping up to grasp his shirt at his shoulders. “Mr. Gale—”
“Benjamin.” He brushed his mouth across hers in a brief imitation of a kiss, and she tasted as sweet as he remembered. He watched her for any signs of rejection or hesitation, but she melted into him, letting out a small breath. “Call me Benjamin.”
“Benjamin…if we do this, it has to be a business arrangement. It has to be clear-cut and easy. Pretend.” Despite her words, she tipped her face up to his. “If we don’t keep every
thing fake —it’ll blow up in our faces. Trust me.”
If we do this. That was all he heard out of that whole speech, because that meant she was considering it. He tasted victory, and it was as sweet as she was. “Deal. But we need to be comfortable with one another, too. To sell the whole ‘in love’ thing.”
She nodded. “R-Right.”
“So little kisses like this…” He brushed his lips against hers again and slid his hand down the curve of her hip, tracing the side of that hot little ass he’d done his best to ignore for the past six months. He moved closer, letting her feel exactly how much he wanted her—because there was no hiding that from her. “They have to come as easy to us as breathing.”
She grasped his shoulders. “Mr. Gale.”
“Maggie.” He skimmed his hand around her waist, dipping down to tease the waistband of her skirt. He wanted to feel the soft skin there, to stroke it, but she had her shirt tucked in, and he couldn’t cross that line. “You have to call me Benjamin.”
“Benjamin.”
“There you go.” He chuckled and ran the back of his knuckles over her cheek. “That’s not so hard, is it?”
Her gaze flitted down. “I don’t know. Is it?”
A laugh escaped him. An actual laugh.
He’d spent years with his sights set on one goal only: to succeed as CEO. He’d been living, yes, but with her in his arms, he felt alive for the first time since his father’s death. “I’ll be honest, I’ve thought of doing this before. Touching you. And now here we are.”
“Yeah.” She nodded her head imperceptibly. “Here we are.”
“What do you think?” He splayed his hand across her lower back, his pinky on the sweet curve of her ass, and the pulse at the base of her throat leaped. He pressed a soft kiss there, relishing her reaction to him. “Can we make this thing between us work?”
“If we’re being honest, I definitely feel the attraction, too. That’s why if we get caught up in the lie, it would be catastrophic.”
Would. Not could.
Something told him Maggie had been hurt pretty badly before. That’s what made her cautious about love, while he simply didn’t understand the point of such a vulnerable emotion. It only led to pain. “But it could be really good, too.”
She pulled him closer, her words at war with her actions. “If we do this, we shouldn’t be doing”—she motioned between them—“this.”
Despite her words, she didn’t let go of him. If anything, she held him tighter.
“I’m fine with that, if that’s what you want. I’ll never force you to do anything you don’t want to do. You can walk out of here, tell me to go to hell, and I’ll still fight for your job till I can’t fight anymore.” He let go of her, even though every muscle protested the loss. “Do you want to leave?”
She bit her lip, staring up at him, still holding him tight. “No.”
“All right.” His pulse surged. “So, back on topic, if we’re going to do this, we’ll have to kiss fairly often, to make it real. We’ll have to be comfortable enough with one another…” He slid his hands back into place and dropped a kiss on her lips again, pulling back right away. “To do things like this without hesitation.”
She lifted her face to his, a small breath puffing out, and her lids dropped down. She looked so damn kissable and fit into his arms like a missing piece of himself. “All the time. Try it again.”
He kissed her again, his lips lingering over hers. “Like that?”
“Mm hmm.” Her eyes opened, and she took a deep breath. “This is all a horrible idea.”
He stepped back and cocked a brow. “Do I sense a ‘but’ coming?”
“But I’ll do it.” Her lips quirked. “You’re right—we are a good team. If anyone can make this look real, it’s us.”
